The Rise of Australasia

In order to completely intimidate the Argentinians, the armies of the Allies did not spare any ammunition this time, assembling and bombarding the Argentine front lines with hundreds of firearms. The verdant forests were bombed into wastelands, and the protruding mountains along the border were flattened.

Just in the bombing on the 11th day, over 40,000 shells were consumed by the Allies, with an average of more than a hundred rounds fired by each firearm.

It is unclear how many casualties the Argentine army suffered, but judging from the situation on the front lines, the Argentinians' losses were certainly not small.

After experiencing two rounds of shelling, the Argentinians could not withstand the pressure any longer. On November 13th, 1913, Argentina once again requested a ceasefire.

The good news is that since the Allies and Chilean representatives realized Argentina could not hold out for long, they stayed in Sydney.

On the Argentine side, the domestic situation did not allow for the withdrawal of negotiation representatives, so the talks in Sydney smoothly resumed.

Perhaps realizing their current predicament, the Argentinians became very obedient during these talks.

After two days of consultations and negotiations between both parties, on November 15th, Argentina's compensation was finally determined to be 11.83 million pounds.

Of this amount, 8 million pounds were to be paid to the Four Great Powers of the Allies, and 2 million pounds were to be given to Australasia.

The remaining 3.83 million pounds comprised of 2 million pounds as war compensation for Chile and 1.83 million pounds to compensate the Chilean people and government for their losses during the war.

For Argentina, a compensation of nearly 12 million pounds was no small sum.

Even with the help of the United States, it would take years to fully pay off this debt.

More importantly, this was a significant blow to Argentina's national pride. It would not be easy for them to regain their status as one of the three hegemons in South America.

It is worth noting that Chile would receive more than 3 million pounds in compensation, significantly alleviating their current economic downturn.

This would indirectly lead to a widening gap between Chile and Argentina, as Argentina would be cultivating a formidable enemy for itself.

Of course, Chile is not the primary concern of the Argentinian government currently. Once the complete contract was published, the Argentinian government would first have to face the anger of the Argentine civilians.

As for the Chilean demands for the entire Tierra del Fuego Province, the Argentinian government could not possibly accept it.

If they agreed to Chile's demand, even if Argentina did not perish in this war, the Argentinian government would be overthrown by the angry Argentine civilians.

For any nation or ethnicity, ceding national land is a disgrace. The person who agrees to sign the treaty is usually put on the pillar of shame.

Of course, the ultimate decision-makers are the Four Great Powers of the Allies, or more precisely, the British Empire.

Including Australasia, they were not too interested in this matter, therefore, the attitude of the British Empire became crucial.

Although the British Empire was an ally of Chile and had friendly relations with them, the long-standing continental balance policy of Britain still made the British government somewhat hesitant about this matter.

Argentina's defeat and subsequent compensation were unavoidable, but Britain was vexed over how much to exact and what kind of restrictions to put on Argentina.

If Argentina's compensation was too little, Chile might be dissatisfied. But if Argentina was weakened too severely, there would be no more obstacles for Chile in the southern part of South America.

Once Chile reaped the fruits of war, South America would become a direct confrontation between Chile and Brazil.

From the current situation, Chile had an advantage, and it was not impossible for them to become the hegemon of South America.

Even if they couldn't compete with Brazil in the short term, Chile could still continue to oppress Argentina and accumulate a foundation for its rise.

This was not permitted by the British Empire. Chile had saltpeter mines that were very important to the British Empire, which meant that Chile's national strength could not be too strong; otherwise, it might exceed Britain's control.

The Argentine representative seemed to understand this point. After the territorial negotiations reached a stalemate, the Argentine representative repeatedly requested private talks with the British representative and spoke privately for a long time.

Finally, on November 20th, 1913, at the suggestion of the British Empire, both Chile and Argentina each took a step back and changed their demands.

Ultimately, the negotiations went smoothly, and Argentina agreed to cede the land east of Karen, north of Saint Sebastian, and the islands of Estrados, Saint Diego, and others. They also gave up sovereignty over all disputed areas.

Although Argentina did cede land in the end, it was only small islands and soil that they could accept.

While the Chileans were somewhat unwilling, they had no choice but to accept the British Empire's decision.

At least they acquired new territory, which was an explanation they could give to the media and the people.

The only issue remaining in this negotiation was the request by Australasia for the establishment of a jointly-administered zone in Argentina's Northern Black Land region.

Australasia had agreed to send troops in this war for the sake of Argentina's Black Land.

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